Story: Dennis (Damian O’Flynn) is a nature photographer on the trek of a lifetime, as he is in Africa and has access to a wealth of wild, rarely photographed locales. This includes all kinds of exotic animals, beautiful scenic spots, and the cultural events of the locals, so he can build quite a portfolio on this excursion. But as much as he expects to see incredible sights, he is stunned to witness a young white man swinging through the jungles, an incident his host doesn’t appreciate. Hassan (Paul Guilfoyle) is allowing Dennis to be his guest, but he wants the jungle boy to be eliminated, so he sends his men to take down Bomba (Johnny Sheffield). Bomba is able to survive the attack, but can he end Hassan’s reign of terror and restore order to his beloved jungle?

Entertainment Value: This is the fourth volume in the Bomba the Jungle Boy series and while I have enjoyed the films to this point, The Hidden City was my least favorite so far. The narrative has potential, but this sequel veers off course for the series and comes up short on the jungle action. The story is more involved than in the previous films and I don’t mind the narrative here, but it just never reeled me in and I would have opted for more of the jungle thrills the franchise is known for. The pace here, even with a short duration, can feel slow at times and while the story is decent, the movie can never seem to build much steam. I appreciated the dynamic between Bomba and a displaced jungle princess, but again, the movie spins its wheels with this thread and doesn’t make the most of an interesting side narrative. When the action picks up and Bomba takes the focus, there is some fun in The Hidden City, just not enough. I found this installment to be the weakest in the series to this point, but Bomba fans will likely still want to check this one out.

This sequel involves more characters than we’re used to in the series, which means sadly, Johnny Sheffield is put on the back burner often here. Not that his thespian skills were ideal, but he plays Bomba so well and by this point, he has made the character his own. The scenes with Sheffield are less common in The Hidden City, but he does have a decent amount of screen time. But when the focus is elsewhere, the movie tends to slow and even grind at times, so I much prefer when Sheffield is around. This is especially true since his thread with Sue England was the highlight of this otherwise forgettable picture. The two had good chemistry and a nice back and forth, so those scenes were my personal favorite moments in this one. The cast also includes Paul Guilfoyle, Damian O’Flynn, Smoki Whitfield, and Leon Belasco.

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